The overall objective of this research project is to make electrosurgery safe and effective for the patient. To achieve this goal requires fundamental knowledge of the factors that effect skin heating under the dispersive electrode and the mechanisms of cutting and coagulation. Toward these goals the following studies will be carried out in this, the 03 Year: 1) Completion of studies on the temperature rise under dispersive electrodes, i.e., special emphasis will be placed on the unusual properties of the newly introduced capacitive electrode, 2) Completion of the thermal modeling studies which predict the skin temperature distribution under a dispersive electrode, 3) Determination of the mechanism of cutting and coagulation by high speed photography of the arcs and by measuring current and voltage waveforms during cutting and coagulation, and 4) Evaluations of the efficiency of 13.56 and 27.12 MHz for cutting and coagulation. (These frequencies are legally assigned for medical and industrial purposes and should allow recording of physiological events during electrosurgery.)